“Change is good”: Champion Spotlight on Kha’zix, League of Legends’ latest

Kha’zix the Voidreaver is a melee assassin, who uses quick movement and invisibility to close in on his prey. Most intriguingly, he also evolves “over the course of a match”, upgrading his abilities with new, violent features.

When Kha’zix learns a new rank of his ultimate, he can evolve himself, adding a unique effect to one of his four active abilities. Three rank additions per match means three evolutions. Three is one less than four, which means that Kha’zix can't possibly upgrade all of his abilities in one game, leading to some difficult choices.

What abilities are these, then, between which we must choose?

Unseen Threat is a passive buff that comes into play whenever Kha’zix is unseen by enemies. The buff lasts until he attacks another champion, dealing bonus damage, slowing them and consuming the buff.

Taste Their Fear is a melee attack best utilised against an enemy with no nearby allies, for bonus damage. With evolved claws, Taste Their Fear’s range is increased and deals further damage as enemy health bars are swiped away. As such, Taste Their Fear will be a key tool in early assassination of enemy champions, and in taking down the dragon.

Void Spike is a ranged attack which deals area effect damage, and heals Kha’zix if he’s in range. In evolved form, it fires three spikes in a cone and can be applied in combination with Unseen Threat to slow enemies - ideal for chasing.

Kha’zix’s Leap ability is a nod to Dawn of War 2’s jetpack takedowns, allowing the Voidreaver to close the gap on enemies and deal damage where he lands. When evolved, Leaps can be made at greater range and - if they result in immediate kills or assists - reduce cooldown to nothing, leaving Kha’zix free to make another Leap.

Kha’zix’s ultimate is Void Assault, which sees the champion briefly stealthed and gaining increased movement speed. It can be activated twice in quick succession before entering cooldown. When evolved, Void Assault can be used three times before cooldown, and Kha’zix takes reduced damage while stealthed.

To hear Riot tell it, playing Kha’zix will above all require stealth and mobility to survive. You’ll need to take advantage of his abilities to deal massive damage while taking very little, before diving back into cover. See him in action below.